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DUBAI, May 31 (Reuters) - Stock markets in the Middle East looked set to end the month down on Tuesday as investors sell off ahead of the holy month of Ramadan and find little incentive to buy shares.
A Reuters poll of 14 leading fund managers held over the last 10 days found they had grown more cautious about building positions in equities.
Twenty-one percent anticipate cutting back allocations to Middle Eastern stock markets in the next three months, while 14 percent expect to raise them.
Sebastien Henin, head of asset management at Abu Dhabi's The National Investor, believes the international newsflow is currently neutral for market participants, with little impact on local market volatility.
"Oil prices have stabilised slightly below $50 per barrel and emerging equity markets have not reacted too negatively to the expected increase of U.S. interest rates," Henin said.
Activity is set to remain subdued, given the approach of Ramadan and summer holidays.
(Reporting by Celine Aswad; Editing by Toby Chopra and David Holmes) ((celine.aswad@thomsonreuters.com; +971 4 4536886; Reuters Messaging: celine.aswad.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
A Reuters poll of 14 leading fund managers held over the last 10 days found they had grown more cautious about building positions in equities.
Twenty-one percent anticipate cutting back allocations to Middle Eastern stock markets in the next three months, while 14 percent expect to raise them.
Sebastien Henin, head of asset management at Abu Dhabi's The National Investor, believes the international newsflow is currently neutral for market participants, with little impact on local market volatility.
"Oil prices have stabilised slightly below $50 per barrel and emerging equity markets have not reacted too negatively to the expected increase of U.S. interest rates," Henin said.
Activity is set to remain subdued, given the approach of Ramadan and summer holidays.
(Reporting by Celine Aswad; Editing by Toby Chopra and David Holmes) ((celine.aswad@thomsonreuters.com; +971 4 4536886; Reuters Messaging: celine.aswad.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
